Conventionally, blood pressure has been measured by one of four basic methods: invasive, oscillometric, auscultatory and tonometric. The invasive method, also known as an arterial-line method (or "A-line"), typically involves insertion of a needle or catheter into an artery. A transducer connected by a fluid column to the needle or catheter is used to determine exact arterial pressure. With proper instrumentation, systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial pressures may be determined, and a blood-pressure waveform may be recorded. This invasive method is difficult to set up, is expensive and time consuming, and involves a potential medical risk to the subject or patient. Set up of the arterial-line method poses technical problems. Resonance often occurs and causes significant errors. Also, if a blood clot forms on the end of the needle or catheter, or the end of the needle or catheter is located against an arterial wall, a large error may result. To eliminate or reduce these errors, the setup must be checked, flushed, and adjusted frequently. A skilled medical practitioner is required to insert a needle or catheter into the artery, which contributes to the expense of this method. Medical complications are also possible, such as infection, nerve and/or blood vessel damage.
The other three traditional methods of measuring blood pressure are non-invasive. The oscillometric method measures the amplitude of blood pressure oscillations in an inflated cuff. Typically, the cuff is placed around the upper arm of the patient and then pressurized to different levels. Mean pressure is determined by sweeping the cuff pressure and determining the cuff pressure at the instant the peak amplitude occurs. Systolic and diastolic pressure is determined by cuff pressure when the pressure oscillation is at some predetermined ratio of peak amplitude.
The auscultatory method also involves inflation of a cuff placed around the upper arm of the patient. After inflation of the cuff to a point where circulation is stopped, the cuff is permitted to deflate. Systolic pressure is indicated when Korotkoff sounds begin to occur as the cuff is deflated. Diastolic pressure is indicated when the Korotkoff sounds become muffled or disappear.
The fourth method used to determine arterial blood pressure has been tonometry. The tonometric method typically involves a transducer positioned over a superficial artery. The transducer may include an array of pressure-sensitive elements. A hold-down force is applied to the transducer in order to partially flatten the wall of the underlying artery without occluding the artery. Each of the pressure-sensitive elements in the array typically has at least one dimension smaller than the lumen of the underlying artery in which blood pressure is measured. The transducer is positioned such that at least one of the individual pressure sensitive elements is over at least a portion of the underlying artery. The output from one or more of the pressure-sensitive elements is selected for monitoring blood pressure. These tonometric systems either use an upper-arm cuff to calibrate blood-pressure values, or they measure a reference pressure directly from the wrist and correlate this with arterial pressure. However, when a patient moves, recalibration of the tonometric system is often required because the system may experience a change in electrical gains. Because the accuracy of such tonometric systems depends upon the accurate positioning of the individual pressure sensitive element over the underlying artery, placement of the transducer is critical. Consequently, placement of the transducer with these tonometric systems is time-consuming and prone to error. Also, expensive electromechanical systems guided by software/hardware computer approaches are often used to assist in maintaining transducer placement.
The oscillometric, auscultatory and tonometric methods measure and detect blood pressure by sensing force or displacement caused by blood pressure pulses within the underlying artery that is compressed or flattened. The blood pressure is sensed by measuring forces exerted by blood pressure pulses in a direction perpendicular to the underlying artery. However, with these methods, the blood pressure pulse also exerts forces parallel to the underlying artery as the blood pressure pulses cross the edges of the sensor which is pressed against the skin overlying the underlying artery of the patient. In particular, with the oscillometric and the auscultatory methods, parallel forces are exerted on the edges or sides of the cuff. With the tonometric method, parallel forces are exerted on the edges of the transducer. These parallel forces exerted upon the sensor by the blood pressure pulses create a pressure gradient across the pressure-sensitive elements. This uneven pressure gradient creates at least two different pressures, one pressure at the edge of the pressure-sensitive element and a second pressure directly beneath the pressure sensitive element. As a result, the oscillometric, auscultatory and tonometric methods can produce inaccurate and inconsistent blood pressure measurements.
Further, the oscillometric and auscultatory methods are directed at determining the systolic, diastolic, and/or mean blood pressure values, but are not suited to providing a calibrated waveform of the arterial pulse pressure.
Until now, there has been no good way to obtain, non-invasively, an accurate, repeatable blood-pressure waveform from the radial artery.